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I Wrote a Check for $9 This Week

Two months ago, the town I lived in last year sent me a luxury tax bill. The time had come for me to pay for my Buick. The only problem is that it was a rate based on owning the car in Connecticut from October 2008 until July 2009, and my car had been totaled by my landlord (long story) in December 2008. Also: I didn’t live in Connecticut anymore.

It took me a while to figure out who to talk to, but I finally got someone on the phone and managed to explain the situation. Before we could straighten it all out, I had to get a fresh copy of a letter from my landlord’s insurance company stating that they had declared the car totaled and purchased it from me, which of course they took their time with, and mail that to Connecticut. I sent the proof out around my birthday 6 weeks ago, then went on vacation 3 weeks ago.

During the week I was on vacation, they sent me two new bills. One was an adjusted bill for $7 and change, and the other was an angry letter telling me that I was late in paying and I now owed $9 and change.

The best part of the whole thing is that the last letter made sure to highlight the fact that if I failed to pay, they would suspend my Buick’s registration. Suspend the registration on a car I haven’t owned for 10 months in a state I don’t live in. If I wasn’t planning on moving back there in a year, I’m not sure I would have bothered sending that check in.

But I did.